To ask how can I lose weight without dieting?

[fieldsofdaisies]

I am so fed up of being on the diet-binge cycle. I have tried several "diets" including calorie counting, intermittent fasting (5:2), trying to eat mindfully/intuitively. It lasts maybe 4-6 weeks and then I go back to eating how I always eat which is large portions of unhealthy food with evening comfort eating of crisps, chocolate and ice-cream. I measured my BMI and I was shocked seeing that I am now classed as obese. I knew I was overweight but I didn't think I was obese!

Whenever I think about losing weight it always creeps into being too restrictive and strict which perpetuates the diet-binge cycle. I am so bored of being on this cycle.

Has anyone managed to lose weight in a sustainable way? I want a complete lifestyle overhaul.

5:2 works well for me. Maybe you could do a simplified version, like the one were you only eat during an 8 hour window each day. If you're binging it could be an eating disorder. An alcoholic making their home alcohol free. I would personally get rid of all the junk food and only have protein, fruit and veg in the house.

Public weigh ins for me were key, I needed the ritual humiliation! Seriously, tho, never shop hungry, don’t have the chocolate and ice cream available. You have to have your head in the right place, pointless doing this without that. Also, it’s not a diet, it’s a change of lifestyle.

@ikus84

Diets don't work.

The only possible way to lose weight and maintain it is calories in vs calories out. You only lose weight when you burn more than you take in. Everything else is just a fad.

That's just such shit. Have you actually read up on the science of fasting?

If you're a comfort eater and have struggled with other methods, you might want to find out about overeaters anonymous. My friend goes and it has changed her life. I won't try and describe it as I just know it from her pov and will probably get it wrong but it sounds a good option if it's the type of support you need.

I could have written this! I have dieted all my adult life - and with me - the minute you say 'diet' I need to eat everything in sight. I become obsessed with food. I have tried everything going and I am now on 5:2. The reason I think this might work for me is that I only obsess about food 2 days a week - which even I can manage, the rest of the week I eat 'normally'. I will see how it goes...

@starlight39 I tried OA but found the programme way too American for my (very British) way of thinking, but I met people there who it worked for really well. Good suggestion.

I do think part of the problem is evidenced by this thread. Everyone has a different theory, different strategy. What has worked for them because it suited their particular body type, lifestyle or eating 'issue'. It can feel overwhelming and intimidating to be faced with so many options which all HAVE worked for someone somewhere. OP I am not dissimilar to you. Despite trying various different ways over the last two decades I'm at least 3 stone above where I need to be, probably closer to 4. I have just made an appointment to get my thyroid checked just so I can rule it out (or not) because I am generally finding that things that have worked in the past no longer do and I am now in my 40s so feel there may be other factors at play. Whilst the fast and hard options appeal to me on one level, they still do take months and are very hard to stick too, so MFP, aiming for 1lb a week probably is a better ber but how you do that, fasting windows, low carb etc is something only you can decide. I agree with the late night snacking.. For me that's the problem. Can easily do an 800 cal day til 9pm when the kids are in bed and it's just me and the remote and the fridge for company.

NO SNACKING
Close the kitchen between meals.
Do not have snack foods in the house
at all ever

beyond that, find a way of eating that suits you

but only eat two or three meals a day of nice tasty stuff

I don't get the no snacking. I have two "snacks" a day and I am losing well. When people say no snacking, do you mean grazing or nothing outside of the 3 main meals at all?

Weight loss is 70% food 30% exercise. Don’t snack junk food (don’t buy them). Buy healthy foods to snack on. And cook your own food.

Schrodinger
Snacks are bits of food between meals.
They are an issue because they increase the risk of T2 diabetes
and because many do not reduce the meal size to compensate for those calories, they contribute to weight gain.

You don't mention exercise. Maybe try to increase your activity levels, take up a fitness class, go for more walks, swimming, anything really that you enjoy.
It will help you sleep better and build up muscle tone.

Cooking all your meals from scratch also really helps, especially if you use fresh good quality ingredients. It needn't be complicated recipes and fresh salads, with interesting things (cheese, nuts, roasted peppers for example) liven things up.

Learn how to make a simple tomato sauce from tinned tomatoes (needs to simmer for a long time) which you can add things to for pasta.
Soups are easy, I have a handheld mixer, boil up any veg, add stock, then for extra tastiness add some fried bacon.
Stews are good and easy (just need to leave them cooking for ages), then freeze in batches.

Also when do you comfort eat ? Could you replace that with something else that is nice for you?

PS
the commonest area of hidden calories is BOOZE
A bottle of red wine has upwards of 600 calories
so that is the same as a large burger .....

if you are going to drink, be aware that a night out on the town can easily add up to over 1000 extra calories
even before that late night visit to the chippie

I'd suggest some therapy to help with this issue. You need to tackle the underlying issues about why you binge before you can have a hope of tackling it.

I'd also recommend keeping a diary about your eating/exercise habits, including your feelings and why you behaved that way that day. Understanding yourself is key.

Start small.

Choose one small thing a week you are going to change - eg:

This week I will eat one more portion of veg a day.
Following week I will eat one portion of fruit for an afternoon snack.
Next week, you carry on with that and add something else, like I will eat only one bag of crisps this week.
Week after, choose something else - like when you want some chocolate, that you will wait for 5 minutes and then have some. The next day, leave it for 10.

It's changing your habits. And changing habits is hard, there's no doubt about it.

I can only control binge eating by calorie counting and using my fitness pal

The issue is that you have it in your head that your baseline is your unhealthy habits and everything that reduces it (in every sense if the term) is a diet.

Whereas people who are slim (and not just lucky through genes) will consider their baseline at a much lower intake of food (and better quality) and anything else indulgence.

If every 'diet' has failed, you need to focus on why you need the bad food in large quantities. You need to focus on evaluating what your new baseline is and work on how you can mentally shift to it.

Until you do that and continue to consider any healthy means of eating a diet you'll continue to see your weight going up and down.

Dnt diet, change ur life style and eating habits.

@Ihopeyourcakeisshit - that made me laugh!

This
The issue is that you have it in your head that your baseline is your unhealthy habits and everything that reduces it (in every sense if the term) is a diet.

What you eat now is too much
Reduce it to the right amount

not a diet, just not killing yourself by overeating

@WinnieLowCo. exactly!

Read The Obesity Code

@ListeningQuietly

Schrodinger Snacks are bits of food between meals. They are an issue because they increase the risk of T2 diabetes and because many do not reduce the meal size to compensate for those calories, they contribute to weight gain.

Well that's interesting! Now you made me google it 😁

I think it is quite obvious that if someone doesn't count snacks into the allowance, it's a problem.

It looks like snacks are a problem when it's "bad snacks" like crisps etc and that people may not count it in and we have bigger food portions. I like the "decreasing quality of snacks" bit. Basically it sounds like the reason it is increasing risk is because people increase their consumption and eat not exactly healthy ones hence add weight hence increase risk. httpss://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325839/#:~:text=Eating%20frequency%20and%20snack%20consumption,its%20effect%20on%20body%20weight.

For me snack in regular time works. Obviously it will not work for everyone though. I snack on fruit, veg, yogurt, fermented veg, ryvita, cheese, eggs. Not all at once😂
It really helps with the hungry eyes when main meal time comes.

Its calories in vs calories out.

You can eat crap and still lose weight. You can also eat well and still lose weight. Trick is, as long as you're eating less calories then you will lose the weight.

Do you think it's bad habit? Emotional eating?

Maybe you need to find a strategy that will stop you from binging. If you're constantly thinking about food then you need to replace those thoughts with other things that won't eventually lead you to eat when its unnecessary.

Try counselling? Approach the problem from a different angle. There are some great books also that might help - Geneen Roth's books, and 'Fat is a Feminist Issue' by Susie Orbach. There's lots of support out there for eating disorders. I wish you luck.

I’m no expert but it sounds to me like you need to change your relationship with food - which I completely understand because I do similar things. And that might require professional help? Because if you don’t crack that you’ll end up yo-yoing and it will likely get progressively worse.

From an exercise point I’ve view the absolute best thing you can do is raise the amount of calories you burn even at rest - and you do that by lifting weights. I used to amateur body build (and no, you don’t end up looking bulky - you have to go to extremes to do that). Increase your muscle mass and you’ll increase your BMR, you’ll also shore up your joints and guard against injury.

Best book I ever bought: The Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises.